The Weakling

by Everett B. Cole

now.

  * * * * *

  As the projection faded, Barra looked around the study, then got out ofhis chair and picked the crystal from its pedestal. He stood, looking atit approvingly for a few seconds, then went over to the cabinet and setit back in its case. For a time, he looked at the rest of theassortment.

  Finally, he shook his head. Some of them, he would sell unscanned. Theothers--well, they could wait.

  Yes, he thought, the record crystals had better be left alone for awhile. He hadn't finished his inspection of the Estates and thesituation at Tibara might not be an isolated case. It would be well tomake a really searching inspection. He sighed.

  In fact, it might be well to make frequent searching inspections.

  Shortly after his accession to the Estates, he had seen to the defenseof Kira Barra. He smiled wryly as he thought of the expense he hadincurred in securing all those power and control crystals to make up hissurrogate installations. But they had been well worth it.

  He had been most thorough then, but that had been some time ago. Hislast full inspection had been almost a year ago. Lately he had beensatisfying himself with spot inspections, not really going over theEstates from border to border.

  Of course, the spot inspections had been calculated to touch thepotential trouble spots and they had been productive of results, butthere might still be hidden things he should know about. This wouldhave to be looked into.

  He turned and went back to his chair, causing it to swivel around andface the view crystal.

  There was that matter of Tibara, as far as that went. Possibly it wouldbe well to count that herd and identify the animals positively.

  Maybe the pasturage was getting poor and he would have to instruct thenew headman to move to better lands. Those strays had looked ratherthin, now that he thought of it.

  Maybe some of the other long-necks had strayed from the main herd and hewould have to have the headman send out guards to pick them up and bringthem in.

  He concentrated on the viewer, swinging its scan over to the swamp wherehe had driven that small herd.

  They were still there, wallowing in the shallow water and grazing on thelush vegetation. He smiled. It would be several days before their feebleminds threw off the impression he had forced on them that this was theirproper feeding place.

  Idly, he examined the beasts, then he leaned forward, studying them morecritically. They weren't the heavy, fat producers of meat normal to theTibara herd. Something was wrong.

  These were the same general breed as the Tibara long-necks, to be sure,but either their pasturage had been unbelievably bad or they had beenrecently run--long and hard. They looked almost like draft beasts.

  He frowned. If these were from the Tibara herd, he'd been missingsomething for quite a while.

  Thoughtfully, he caused the scan to shift. As he followed a small river,he noted groups of the huge, greenish gray beasts as they grazed on thetender rock ferns. Here and there, he noted herdsmen and chore boyseither watching or urging the great brutes about with their noisemakers,keeping the herd together. He examined the scene critically, countingand evaluating. Finally, he settled back in his chair.

  The herd was all here--even to the chicks. And they were in good shape.He smiled wryly.

  Those brutes over in the swamp really didn't belong here, then. Theymust have drifted into the Estates from the null, and been on their wayback. The headman-- He shrugged.

  "Oh, well," he told himself, "it was time I got a new headman forTibara, anyway. And the discipline there will be tighter from now on."

  * * * * *

  He started to shift scan again, then sat up. The view was pulsing.

  As he watched, the scan shifted automatically, to pick up the easternborder of the Estates. Stretching across the landscape was a thin lineof draft saurians, each with its driver straddling its neck. The trainhad halted and a heavily armored riding lizard advanced toward thesurrogate. Its rider was facing the hidden crystals.

  As Barra focused on him, the man nodded.

  "Master Protector?"

  "That is correct." Barra activated his communicators. "I am Kio Barra,Master of the Estates Kira Barra."

  The other smiled. "I am Dar Makun, independent caravan master," heannounced. "The null turbulence forced me off route. Lost a few carriersand several days of time. I'd like to request permission to pass overyour land. And perhaps you could favor me by selling some long-necks tofill my train again. The brutes I've got left are a little overloaded."

  Barra considered. It was not an unusual request, of course. Certaincaravans habitually came through, to do business with the Estates.Others were often detoured by the northern null and forced to comethrough Kira Barra.

  Of course, the masters of the caravans were lacklanders, but they hadgiven little trouble in the past. And this one seemed to be a littleabove the average if anything. In his own way, he was a man ofsubstance, for an owner master was quite different from someone whomerely guided another's train for hire.

  The northern null was a menace, Barra thought, but it did have this oneadvantage. The regular caravans, of course, passed with the courtesy ofthe Estates, doing business on their way. But these others paid andtheir pasturage and passage fees added to the income of the Estates.

  In this case, the sale of a few draft saurians could be quiteprofitable. He shifted the view crystals to allow two-way vision.

  "To be sure." He waved a hand. "Direct your train due west to the secondriver. Cross that, then follow it southward. I will meet you at thefirst village you come to and we can kennel your slaves there and putyour beasts to pasture under my herdsmen. From there, it is a shortdistance to the Residence."

  "Thank you." Dar Makun nodded again, then turned and waved an arm.Faintly, Barra caught the command to proceed.

  He watched for a few minutes and examined the long train as it movedover the rolling land and lumbered into a forest. Then he shifted hisscan to continue his inspection of the rest of the lands. It would beseveral hours before that caravan could reach Tibara and he could scanback and note its progress as he wished.

  He relaxed in his chair, watching the panorama as the Estates unrolledbefore him. Now and then, he halted the steady motion of the scanner, toexamine village or herd closely. Then he nodded in satisfaction andcontinued his inspection.

  The Estates, he decided, were in overall good condition. Of course,there were a few corrections he would have to have made in the days tocome, but these could be taken care of after the departure of thecaravan.

  There was that grain field over in the Zadabar section, for example.That headman would have to be straightened out. He smiled grimly. Maybeit would be well to create a vacancy in that village. But that couldwait for a few days.

  He directed the scan back to the eastern section, tracing the route hehad given the caravan master. At last, the long line of saurians cameinto view and he watched their deceptively awkward gait as the aliencrawled through a forest and came out into deep grass.

  They were making far better progress than he had thought they would andhe would have to get ready if he planned to be in Tibara when theyarrived.

  He was more careful of his dress than usual. This time, he decided, he'dwant quite a few protective devices. One could never be quite sure ofthese caravan masters.

  Of course, so long as they could plainly see the futility of anytreacherous move, they were good company and easy people to deal with,but it would be most unwise to give one of them any opening. It justmight be he would be the one who was tired of wandering.

  He waited patiently as his slave attached his shield brooches and placedhis control cap on his head, then he reached into the casket the manheld for him and took out a pair of paralysis rings, slipping one oneach of his middle fingers. At last, he dismissed the man.

  He floated out of the building and let himself down on the cushions inthe rear of his speedboat. Critically, he examined the condition of
thecraft. His yardboys had cleaned everything up, he noted. The canopy wasdown, leaving the lines of the boat clean and sharp.

  He turned his attention to the power crystal and the boat drew out ofits shelter, gained speed, and cut through the water to the distantshoreline.

  With only part of his mind concentrated on controlling the boat, Barralooked across the lake. It was broad in expanse, dotted with islands,and rich in marine life.

  Perhaps he might persuade this Dar Makun to pick up a few loads of driedlake fish, both for his own rations and for sale along the way to hisdestination. Some of the warehouses, he had noted, were well stocked andhe'd have to arrange for some shipments soon.

  * * * * *

  The boat was nearing Tibara pier. He concentrated on setting it in closeto the dock, then made his way to the eastern edge of the village,summoning the headman as he passed through the village center.

  His timing had been good. The head of the long train was nearly acrossthe wide grassland. For a